“That’s about the only decent thing your mother did.” Standing near me, a look I haven’t seen before settles on his face. “Come here.”
Pain pierces my knee with each movement, blood seeping from it. My cheek’s hot and my stomach churns rapidly. Hair prickles on the back of my neck and I stop moving.
“I said come over here.”
“Daddy?”
His legs move toward me, and I cower below him. “With your dark hair and blue eyes, you’re so much like her.” His voice sounds like he is a million miles away. Raising my eyebrows, his face morphs into someone I don’t know. “Undo my pants.” His loud voice scares me.
My hands tremble at my side and I cannot make them move.
“Open my zipper. Since you’re now a woman, it’s time you learned a few things.”
Standing still, I shake my head, my lips tightly closed.
A bang like thunder cracks from his mouth. “Now.”
Jumping in fright, I push up and sprint for my room. With my head down, I reach it and cower beside my bed in the corner, making myself as small as possible.
I can’t hear anything over my thumping heart, but I expect he will be in behind me.
Huddled on the floor, minutes pass and I allow my tongue to wet my dry lips silently. I haven’t shed a tear or moved a muscle in case he hears me. I need to keep myself invisible. Although if he walked through the door, he would see me within a second.
More time passes. My arms ache from being clenched against my knees, my neck stiff from leaning it on the side to make myself smaller, my butt against the floor aches. It’s not until I hear footsteps pass my door, that I finally give in and crawl to the side of my bed. Waiting there a good ten minutes, I maneuver myself onto my bed and wrap the blanket around me. Releasing my anguish, tears fall steadily.
“Mom, why did you leave me behind?” Sniffling, I try to keep my noise down by covering my head with the blanket. “I really need you, Mommy.”
Jerking my head up, my eyelids are stuck together.
Wiping away the crystallized tears, I try and blink.
As I grow older, I understand why Mom left. But what I don’t comprehend is why didn’t she take me with her. Leaving us, her children with a monster created another evil monster and left me a victim to both of them. In my mature mind now, she is like them. A villain who thought of herself, not about her children like parents are supposed to. But every now and then, I still find myself crying out for her warmth and nurturing, forgetting I’m a grown woman who was abandoned by her flesh and blood, who is capable of taking care of myself. I’ve been doing it for long enough now.
Having Ocean look after me for that small amount of time gave me a glimpse into what it’s like when you have that special person who will do anything for you. Unsure if tonight is the end, Ocean did say he wanted me to stay with him, but this could be asking too much.
Being with the sister of the brother who killed his beloved Melody.
Hmmm…
Closing my eyes, I shake all over, my breathing shallow.
Through years of being absent, over time when we were both hurt, we found our way back to each other. I have to believe when a soul finds its match, like his sister whispered about us, a small touch or a smile can be enough, supporting you to plow through anything so we can make it out the other side together, hand in hand.
Soul mates can’t stay apart.
Can they?
“I got this, man. Go home to your wife and get outta here for a couple of days.”
Slapping me on the back, Slate moves toward his car. “I know you want to do this alone, but you don’t have to.”
“Yeah, I do.” Climbing inside, I rev the engine and take off following the GPS to Colton Kearney. Scorching already from the past five minutes, my head is clear.
He will be dead before the night’s over.
Sitting across from the address Rico punched in my cell, I scan the dark surroundings. The streetlights are broken, there’s junk piled on the dirt ground a few doors down and a few old cars line the road. A rat runs out from the garage pile. It looks like all the vermin live in this neighborhood.
Blood thrashes in my ears, my entire body alert and ready.
Each movement I make is magnified, the nerves and muscles stretch as I take my gun, refilling the bullets, the veins in my legs pump walking across the dirt and the tendons in my neck are rigid, swiveling my head looking for any signs of the scumbag.
Only silence fills the night.
Casing the outside of the shack, which really is too nice a word for the trash heap of wood constructed to form some type of liveable area, blackness envelops the house. A shadow of webs already consumes me, keeping me hyper-vigilant. But there’s nothing.
The back door is almost off its hinges and I easily swing the door, walking in like I own the place. A stench invades my nose. My gut dry heaves, it’s so disgusting.
There’s a sink and small table covered in filth, scattered beer cans, and leftover food breeding mold. A can rattles on the floor, and I spot an animal scurrying from underneath it. My stomach cramps again, but my legs carry me forward slowly, through a slight archway into a living area.
“Thought you’d be still crying over your dead sister.” A bang erupts, but the bullet is nowhere near me.
My eyes fill with fire and my finger pulls the trigger, but I aim at his leg. Striking it effortlessly.
A dull scream roars. His pistol drops to the wooden floor and skids away.
“You motherfucker.” Pacing the floor, all I want to do is finish this bastard off. But I can’t. Not yet.
He’s been waiting for us and I won’t disappoint him.
Firing my gun again, I lodge a bullet in his thigh. This time, his yell is more restrained. “I should shoot you dead now.”
“What the fuck are you waiting for?” Holding his thigh, still sitting, blood oozes from it and the lower leg. He wants me to kill him. I hold my gun firmly, pointing it at his head. It would be so easy to take his life.
Breathing in, I steady my thoughts.
All in good time.
“You’re a coward, killing an innocent woman in cold blood.”
Sweat beads and runs down his nose. His chin lifts in defiance. “She was a fucking whore like the rest of them.”
Tightening my hands, I’m so close to exploding, but instead I walk toward him and lodge my fist into his stomach and the side of his face. I need him to be coherent for a while longer. I won’t let Colton fuck with my mind.
Sitting in the car earlier, remembering all the good Melody brought to everyone’s lives, revenge was a priority, but Phoebe also played on my mind.
The guilt, the hurt and broken-heartedness eating at me is something Phoebe doesn’t need. Killing her brother will bring sadness to her. It has too even after everything he’s done to her, they are still blood.
If I cared about Phoebe, wouldn’t I do everything to stop her from experiencing grief?
At the end of the day, Colton is still her brother.
But where it differs is my sister was everything to me. Melody was the sun in my darkness, she was my umbrella in a storm and the only home I have truly known. I was her crutch and savior and she was my conscience showing me how to use my heart.
Colton stole Phoebe’s childhood, trying to darken her light and blacken her goodness and almost succeeded in killing her.